Farm Diary

After months of low repair bills on machinery, everything has now gone wrong at once. Piston rings on the scraper tractor, rear axle trouble on the big Fendt, fuel pump on the feeding tractor and so on.

It always averages out over the year '“ just like the weather.

Silage stocks are moving ahead of schedule, which is a little worrying, and the cows don't care!

We still have some hedge-cutting to do at Tillington but it's too wet to travel even on the sandy ground.

I have allowed my neighbour to graze some of our cow paddocks with sheep this winter, as there is so much growth. We are careful to rotate them around the farm, and we don't allow them to graze too tightly. The grass can be seen to respond once they have grazed the paddock and moved on, although it's wet, even for sheep on the clay.

For full feature see West Sussex Gazette January 23